WASHINGTON — Cynthia Bauerly, the current chair of the Federal Election Commission, stressed the importance of disclosure in keeping voters informed and democracy strong in a talk with the consumer rights group Public Citizen on Thursday.

“Disclosure is a very important part, the bedrock really, of everything that happens in the campaign finance area,” she said.

Bauerly spoke in a discussion mediated by Robert Weissman, president of Public Citizen, as part of the group’s 40th anniversary lecture series.

She discussed the radical effects of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2010 ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission and other cases on campaign finance laws; the FEC’s current goals and initiatives and responded to questions and criticisms on the committee’s structure and efficiency.

The overturning of the ban on corporate political expenditures is most often highlighted when talking about the court’s Citizens United ruling. But, Bauerly said, a very important part of the decision is the justices’ 8-1 opinion that affirmed full disclosure of political expenditures.

On the point of the FEC’s near-constant 3-3 deadlock between its three Republican and three Democratic commissioners, Bauerly, a Democrat, focused on the public service that the FEC provides, despite its frequent inability to come to consensus or make new rules.

“I think the agency provides a very important public service,” she said. “While it’s true we deadlock on more things and on the hard things, if the FEC were to just disappear, our data would disappear. The reports would disappear. The public would have no information.”

During the wide-ranging discussion, Bauerly also referenced recent court cases such as Wisconsin Right to Lifev. Federal Election Commission, SpeechNow.org v. Federal Election Commission and Club for Growth v. Federal Election Commission as other examples of rulings that have changed the face of campaign finance law.

Bauerly, noting that she spoke only on her own behalf and not on behalf of the commission, said the FEC could be doing more work on disclosure, such as updating certain rules in the wake of these cases and Citizens United.

In the aftermath of all of these changes, she said, it is time for the FEC to begin reviewing and updating some of its current policies.

Next week, in fact, the FEC will vote on whether some of these changes and updates should be reopened for consideration with the public. To pass, four commissioners must vote in favor of the measure, which was previously considered but did not pass in January.

Some of the issues on which the FEC next week will vote to seek public comment on include: the rules regarding electioneering communications, independent expenditures and contribution from foreign nationals.

At one point, an audience member asked Bauerly about the FEC regulation that only requires disclosure when contributions to outside groups are specifically earmarked for political advertisements, which rarely happens. (Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) sued the FEC over this loophole in April.)

Bauerly said the FEC would like to revisit that regulation and that the commission is in the process of seeking public comment on it.

Bauerly also said the FEC is a “fairly reactive agency” in that it spends more time focusing on issues that are brought directly to it, rather than revisiting old decisions.

When pushed for an opinion on what type of reforms the FEC could use, and whether court decisions such as Citizens United need reform, Bauerly re-emphasized that disclosure is still required, and that her job as an FEC commissioner is to make sure that happens, regardless of who is allowed to contribute.

“My role is as an administrator,” she said. “We have a specific role, and whether I agree or disagree with Citizens United is frankly irrelevant to what I have to do on a daily basis.”

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